A couple of months ago, we introduced the latest Martnero releases from a Red Bar Boston event. At the event, I convinced John, the founder, to let me take the blue dial Ascent. I honestly liked pretty much every color variant of the Ascent and Marquis, but something about the baby blue dial and navy strap that struck me – so, I took it home, and here I am ready to give my full review. Let’s get into it.
I bitch and complain about watches being too big all the time. Frankly, I’m getting tired of listening to myself. Thankfully, Martenero was either listening to me, or the comment section of Hodinkee for pretty much every single press release article. Alongside the 42mm case, Martenero opted for a smaller, more conservative 38mm case. As a nearly unyielding vintage idealist, I was pretty excited about the decision. I have to say, with the medium length lugs (and keeping the lug width at 20mm), it’s a great way to do a smaller modern watch. If the lugs were short in length and narrower in width, it would feel much smaller, but I found the proportions to be just right. In addition to the size, I also love the continued use of the Speedmaster-esque twisted lugs – a simple and effective way to give an inexpensive watch a more expensive look. I’ll likely call out some other case details as I go along, but overall, the wearability of the 38mm Ascent is fantastic.
The dial and hands is where I think Martenero made the most important updates, and this goes for both new models. For the Ace and Founder, the dials and hands were pretty simple and straightforward. Both the Ascent and Marquis have applied markers as well as finished borders around the date window. John told me the first go-round taught him a lot of design lessons, and he felt much more comfortable making the decisions for higher end touches. I really enjoy the added depth of the applied markers, and it almost makes you forget you’re wearing a watch that costs well under $1,000. The light blue dial is one of four options, including a darker sunburst blue, white, and a charcoal grey. I would say the hands are “alpha hands”, what with the notch right near the hub, but the rounded ends give it an appearance I’m not sure I’ve seen before. Another nice touch is the luminous tip of the customizable second hand, offered in dark blue, light blue orange, and white.
After the dial and hands updates, switching to the Miyota 9015 was another important move. The $500 price range is pretty competitive these days, and almost everyone is using the 9015, so I don’t think there was much choice for Martenero here. There’s nothing wrong with the 821a, but the 9015 is a well-respected movement for the money, and that’s a reputation it has earned. You can get a look at the 9015 through the exhibition caseback, which features the Martenero name on the rotor as the only modification. Exhibition casebacks are one of those “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” kind of things in the lower price brackets. I could totally do without them, but I know a lot of people like to be able to see the movement.
Like any other watch nerd, I have a whole watch roll full of extra straps. And since Martenero maintained the 20mm lug width for the smaller case size, I had a handful of straps to fit the Ascent. I’m a fan of the dark blue strap that came with it, but the Ascent looked fantastic on different shades of brown, as well as colored NATOs. It looks like Martenero did away with NATO options for the latest releases, offering only leather, but you can always grab them in the accessories section. The idea there was to give the Ascent and Marquis a less casual or sporty feel.
Martenero did a tremendous job improving upon its watches for the latest two releases. I often get caught up comparing details in high-end watches, so it’s nice to pick up some of the same details in a far less expensive watch. For $595, the Ascent is a great value that allows you to customize enough parts to make your watch truly feel like your watch.
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